


Christmas Nerves

by curiouselfqueen



Series: Holiday One-Shots [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, House Elves, M/M, wolfstar, yes I stole James's parents names from Shaya because that's my cannon now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-04 12:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiouselfqueen/pseuds/curiouselfqueen
Summary: The Marauders exchanged gifts every year together on Christmas Eve Eve; that was nothing new.  This year though, was the first year Sirius and Moony were officially together.  As if those extra emotions weren’t enough, this year there was a full moon on Christmas night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SableUnstable](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SableUnstable/gifts).



> Written as a Christmas present for the incomparable, magnificent SableUnstable! <3  
> (Origingally posted on tumblr: curiouselfqueen.tumblr.com)
> 
> Pairing: WolfStar  
> Prompt: MWPP era, pre-slash, some fluffy gift giving, the gift something unexpected? A little bit of smirking, knowing James and Peter, a little bit of awkward, blushing Remus and Sirius - heavy on the Sirius. “It suits you."

The floor of Sirius’s room was littered in bits of wrapping paper, sparkly ribbon in half a dozen different colours, string, bows, candy wrappers, and a few pieces of dirty laundry.  Sitting in the middle of it all was the raven haired wizard in just socks, trousers and a Christmas sweater.  His wand was holding up his hair and spell-o tape was covering his hands, making it a bit difficult to get the last bit of wrapping secured in place.  Sirius had been determined to do it all himself, and mostly without magic. **  
**

Gripping the top of the wrapped box, Sirius flipped it over and covered the last corner.  Leaning back on his free hand, admiring his work, he loosened his grip to let down the box, but there it stayed stuck to his hand.  “Ah, fuck me,” Sirius murmured.  He’d taped the damned thing to himself.  He shook his hand, then abruptly stopped, not wanting to damage the gift inside.  Slowly, he pried the box off his hand, ripping some of the paper along the way.

“Sorry, Wormtail,” he murmured as he grabbed a bow and shoved it on top of the rip.

Jumping up, he put the gift on the desk next to the others and flipped off the new Ramones record Lily had given him for Christmas.  Despite knowing they’d see each other during the break, she insisted on exchanging gifts on the train like they always did since it was their last year.

Shuffling over to the window, Sirius looked out over the orchards of Potter Manor.  He picked up a cookie off the plate Nonny had left earlier and absently munched on it while watching the snow fall.  They probably wouldn’t go out flying today like they had planned.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Sirius jumped at the pounding coming from his bedroom door.  Who the fuck was that?  Wait, what time was it?! Were they here? He wasn’t ready!

“Oi! Padfoot!” came James’s muffled voice through the door.  “Quit wanking!  Mum wants to say bye before they’re off to their what’s-it dinner gala thing!”

Sirius marched over to the door and swung it open, glad to see the sudden movement nearly made James fall over.  Sirius’s smirk was erased when James chuckled, eyeing what his best friend was wearing and raising his eyebrow as if to say “Was I wrong?”  Sirius shoved James back into the hallway, snatched some sweats off the floor and followed him downstairs.

Waiting in the foyer in some of their best dress robes stood Dorea and Charlus Potter.  Charlus was wrapping a cloak around his wife as she was talking to their house elf.

“…rooms ready so they can stay if they want.  Ah, my boys,” Dorea said as she looked up to see the two black-haired young wizards strolling towards her.  “Tell Peter and Remus we’re sorry we missed them tonight.  But we’ll see you all in the morning for breakfast,” she said as she pulled James into a hug.  “Have fun tonight, but don’t tear the place down.  There’s plenty of food, cookies and chocolate,” she added with a glance towards Sirius “for everyone.”

Sirius felt the faintest bit of heat rising up in his cheeks despite his wishes.  The Potters knew everything, of course.  He had talked to Dorea about everything before he even told James.  Yet despite all the years of conversations, love and affirmation he had as comfort, he had been a bit jittery about this year’s Christmas gift exchange ever since they got home.

Charlus swung his arm around Sirius, bringing him into a hug and said quietly “There’s more butterbeer than you could ever drink in the kitchen, and have at it son, but there better not be more than one bottle of Firewhisky missing from the cabinet when we get back.”

“Yes, sir,” Sirius chuckled as he pulled away.

Dorea gave Sirius as tight hug, whispering “I love you.”  Though none of them talked about it, they had all become slightly more demonstrative with all the trouble that had been brewing up in their world – which for the Potters was saying something.

“I love you too, Mum,” Sirius returned as they pulled apart.

The Potters turned to leave, Dorea calling out one more “Have fun! Be safe!” as they walked out the door.

Standing alone in the entry, James shoved his hands in his pockets, turned his head to Sirius and said, “You ever notice how she says to have fun and be safe, but never actually uses the phrase ‘be good’?”  Sirius looked at James, looked back to the closed door, back at James with a contemplative look and just said “Huh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's part one! Thank you for reading!  
> Follow/subscribe so that you don't miss updates - this IS finished and I'll be uploading all of it.
> 
> Also, I didn't fully re-read this before reposting and it was never beta'd. If you find small mistakes, feel free to let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

_Standing alone in the entry, James shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “You ever notice how she says to have fun and be safe, but never actually tells us to be good?”  Sirius looked at James, looked back to the closed door, back at James and just said “Huh.”_

* * *

Somewhere a clock began chiming and Sirius immediately tensed.  Shit!  What time was it?!  They were going to be over soon and–

“You’ve got half an hour!” James was shouting after him as Sirius rushed up the stairs two at a time.  “And you’ve got glitter on your face!”

Sirius bolted into his room, only to halt just inside the doorway.  There, flitting about the room was the Potter’s house elf.

“Er, Nonny?  What are you doing?”

“Cleaning!” squeaked the little elf, not stopping for a moment.

“Er, I see that, and thanks, but I kinda need my room right now.  I need to get ready-”

“Ready, yes, yes.  Go clean yourself and Nonny will have Master Black’s room ready, yes, yes.”  When Sirius didn’t move, the elf came over and began shoving him back out the door.  “Won’t have Master Moony thinking Nonny doesn’t take care of her wizards, no, no.”

“But, Nonny, I-”

“Nonny will clean the room, put the presents downstairs, yes, yes.”

“But I need-”

“Master Black’s things are in the bathroom, yes, yes.”  With one final shove, Nonny had Sirius in the bathroom and slammed the door on him.

Knowing it was useless to argue with the stubborn elf – stubbornness embedded deep into the Potter magic, Sirius was sure – he turned on the shower and decided a hot soak was probably a good idea for his nerves anyway.

The Marauders exchanged gifts every year together on Christmas Eve Eve; that was nothing new.  This year though, was the first year he and Moony were officially together.  As if those extra emotions weren’t enough, this year there was a full moon on Christmas night.

When they first found out about Remus’s furry little problem, Sirius had found a potions almanac that listed every full moon of the century.  This one had always stood out.  His only consolation at the time was that it would come while they were still at Hogwarts. He knew they would find a way to be there for their best friend.  Shortly thereafter had come their decision to train to become animagi.  That was one thing Sirius could always be proud of himself for.  He had always been there for Remus, and he always would be.

Turning off the water, Sirius got out of the shower, slightly more relaxed than he was beforehand.  He took a deep breath of the lingering eucalyptus steam as he wrapped the towel around his waist, snatched his wand and jewelry from the counter and began walking back to his room.

Faintly, he heard the front door open and Peter singing out, “The fun has arrived!”

Snorting at his friend, Sirius turned into his bedroom and shook his hair out. With his towel, Sirius partially dried his hair and threw it into a bun, using his wand to keep it in place.  He claimed it was simply the easiest way to keep his hair back – which it was – but it also had the benefit of gaining a few extra lingering stares from Remus when he did.

He pulled on simple black jeans and a black button-down shirt.  Maybe a bit nicer than a night with the boys warranted, but it was Christmas.  With his boyfriend.  And it wasn’t like he was going to wear a tie.  In fact, Sirius made sure to leave the first few buttons of the shirt undone.

After giving himself a once-over in the mirror, he finished up quickly, not wanting anyone to come looking for him.  Peter was rarely early, so if he was already here, there was a good chance Moony was too.  One last deep breath, and Sirius made his way downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Remus would never really get used to how large Potter Manor was. He was sure he hadn’t seen all of it. He didn’t think he’d even seen all of the grounds, despite their many flying excursions and spending the summer moons here. But even though the Manor was what he would describe as sprawling, it was unmistakably warm and inviting. Some rooms carried more charm or elegance, but the back parlor where they always spent the majority of their time was definitively cozy.

The room was really only big enough for the family (the family being the Potters and Marauders combined). Dorea said she never did any formal entertaining in here and Remus suspected that over the years it had come to be a more tasteful version of the Gryffindor common room either by Dorea’s intention to comfort the boys or by Charlus’s influence. Either way, they always gravitated to the room with the slightly overstuffed furniture decorated in warm colors.

The cozy feeling of the room was enhanced by the lit fireplace and the lights on the large decorated Christmas tree. Remus, James and Peter were playing a three-way game of Exploding Snap on the floor, Remus sitting a little further away, refusing to get any soot on himself. It was Christmas after all, and even if it was early and just with the guys he wanted to look nice.

Leaning forward, with his arm outstretched to play his turn, Remus’s attention was drawn to the doorway where a tall, lean figure stood dark. The light from the fireplace just barely revealed a sharp jawline sporting a tinge of stubble.

BANG! POP! SIZZLE! CRACK!

“MOONY!”

“Oi, Remus! Watch it!”

Sirius was now positively sauntering into the room, hands in his pockets, a smirk growing on his face while he locked eyes with Remus as he crossed the room.

“Hey, Pete,” Sirius said without even a glance to his friend. He stopped in front of his boyfriend and put out his hand expectantly. Remus slid his hand into Sirius’s and allowed himself to be pulled up off the floor and into a strong embrace. “Happy Christmas, Moony,” Sirius murmured, touching their forehead and noses together.

“Happy Christmas, Pads.”

A combination of groans and wolf-whistles accompanied their greeting kisses.

Breaking apart before things got out of hand, Remus slid his hand down Sirius’s arm, to his wrist where he slowly rubbed his thumb across the leather cuff Sirius always wore. It had become a habit Remus adopted whenever they held hands. For no other reason than the rhythm was soothing.

Sirius cleared his throat, and though he didn’t look away from Remus, he took a step back, nervously glancing at the presents under the tree and rubbed his neck with his now free hand.

“Well, uh-”

“Drinks!” shouted James suddenly. “I think we need a round of drinks,” he said with a smirk, giving Sirius a clap on the shoulder as he walked past the couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3
> 
> Also, I've just joined the Chudley Cannons team for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition over on ff.net. This is my first time joining a writing competition of any kind, but it seems like it'll be fun!  
> If you're interested in reading more NEW stuff from me, head on over there - I've got the same username. Eventually I'll post all those stories here as well, but I may not right away. Anyway, just thought you may want to know.
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Kudos help me start my day off right and comments keep me encouraged <3  
> Now go drink some water; it's good for you.


	4. Chapter 4

_“Drinks!” shouted James suddenly.  “I think we need a round of drinks,” he said with a smirk, giving Sirius a clap on the shoulder as he walked past the couple._

“I’ll help you with those,” Sirius said as he turned and followed James to the bar in the corner of the room.

James shook his head but kept his chuckle to himself.  Sirius had been worrying over Remus’s Christmas present all break long.  No matter how much he and Mum reassured him.  It was perfect and they all knew it.  The gift showed off Sirius’s magical talent in an utterly sentimental way with just enough practicality that ensured Remus would love it.  The fact that James just happened to know that Remus’s gift was in a similar vein probably added to his confidence but that didn’t help Sirius any.

As soon as they were out of earshot, James murmured “You’ve gotta calm down, mate.  Moony’s gonna think you don’t want him here if you’re not all mushy with him.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and gave James a sour look.  “We are not mushy-”

“Yeah, tell that to your Saturday afternoon picnics.”

“-and Moony never doubts how much I want him.  Ever.” he said with a quirk of his eyebrows to really drive the point home.

“Ugh, you two are so disgusting sometimes,” James said as he pulled a few butterbeers off the cooling tray with one hand and a plate of snacks with the other.

“Kettle,” Sirius replied as he snatched a tumbler and poured himself some Firewhisky, immediately downing it.

“Hey, go easy, eh?  It’s still early.”  James watched as Sirius replaced the top on the decanter and put it back on the shelf.  The empty glass was set on a tray where it disappeared off to the kitchens.  

James never really understood Sirius when he was in his sullen moods like this.  He tried to, but he knew he would never really understand, and he was quietly thankful for that fact.  Still, he felt bad whenever he admitted it to himself even though James had been told all his life that no one can help what cards they’re dealt.  Shit family.  Attacked by a werewolf.  Alone.  All of them in some way.  Yet they had found each other.  

Pushing two bottles into Sirius’s hand and grabbing another off the endlessly replenishing cooling tray, James tried to snap his brother out of his mood.  “Go butter up your boyfriend.  I happen to know from a reliable source that for some reason you have a calming effect on him, especially this close to the moon.”

“He told you that?”

“No. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.”

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and turned to look across the room to see Remus back on the floor in front of the fire, his long legs stretched out in front of him and leaning back on his hands.

“You really don’t have anything to worry about, you know,” James said as he started to move back into the room.  “Even if you did cock up the gift, he’d never let you know it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another small update! One more part left...


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The final part!  Sorry it was a bit delayed - had an eventful weekend.  Hope you enjoy this last bit!

Sirius’s stomach dropped.  He hadn’t even had time to register the fact that he was feeling better before he was feeling worse again.  Because James was right.  Even if Moony didn’t like the gift, there’s no way he would ever let Sirius know.  So he’d never really be sure the gift was well received and second-guess every single birthday, Christmas and anniversary gift he ever got for Remus.  

“Wanker,” he growled under his breath before setting his sights on something guaranteed to be more pleasant.

Remus had looked up at the noise coming from his boyfriend across the room.  The black haired wizard stalked across the room and stood in front of the other on the floor.  Sirius held forward his hand with the butterbeers and Remus watched his wrist turn, offering one of them up.  Trying to keep control over himself, Remus reached out to grab one of the bottles now dripping condensation.  He didn’t graze his fingers along Sirius’s hand, was careful not to touch him at all.  The werewolf focused on the cool touch of the glass on the palm of his hand while he carefully guided his eyes up Sirius’s arm to his shoulder, up his neck, past his lover’s lips until his blue eyes locked in with grey.

They stayed there frozen, breathing heavily for a few moments before Sirius slowly uncurled his finger from the neck of the bottle letting Remus take it. 

Sirius ran a hand through his hair before dropping down onto the rug next to Remus, bunched up close as if the space was crowded, and swung his legs over Remus’s  so that he was practically in his boyfriend’s lap.  He set down his own butterbeer and reached for the one Remus was still holding in his hand.

“Here, let me,” he said as he twisted off the cap and handed it back.

“Sirius, you should get off me,” Remus started, despite his unoccupied hand slowly rising up Sirius’s calf and gripping under his knee.  He was breathing slowly, attempting to control and calm down the wolf so near the surface with the moon a day away.

“No, I won’t.  It’s Christmas,” Sirius replied, reaching out to brush sandy blonde curls off Remus’s forehead.  “For once I am exactly where I want to be, with whom I want to be with,” he said softly, slowly leaning in, but stopping short just before their lips met.  “And I intend to enjoy myself tonight,” he added with a quick glance to Remus’s lips, “thoroughly.”

Just as Remus began moving to close the small distance between them, Sirius pulled away and leaned back on one hand with a smug grin.  At Remus’s growl, he picked up his butterbeer, took a swig, and scooched in even closer.

Hearing James and Peter approaching, Remus quickly rethought his momentary plan of grabbing Sirius’s butterbeer, throwing it in the fire, and taking him right there.

“You’re lucky the others are here right now,” he said lowly.  Leaning in so that his lips were touching Sirius’s ear, he grinned as he heard the stuttered breath.  “But make no mistake, you will pay for being a tease.”

*****

The night continued with more teasing and small glances between Remus and Sirius while the Marauders drank, laughed, ate, played games and relieved the best pranks of the past few years.  James would occasionally nudge Sirius when he caught him fidgeting with his cuff and Peter pretended not to notice Remus staring at the opening in Sirius’s shirt almost constantly.

Breaking a lull in the conversation, Peter declared he needed to be off soon.  “Mum’s making me help with the cooking tomorrow and she gets started much too early in the morning.”

“Presents!” James shouted from where he was lying on the floor.  He rolled over and crawled over to the tree, grabbing his pile to distribute.  The others followed suit, Peter and James tearing into their gifts right away.  As soon as all of his were opened, both given and received, Peter headed out.

With an unsubtle glance to Sirius, James followed.  “I’ll see you out Wormy.  And then I think I’ll just go to bed.  I’m pretty tired… Probably go right to sleep.  Sound asleep… Completely unaware - Oi!” He whipped around to see who had thrown the pillow at his head but was immediately pelted with half a dozen more, pushing him out of the room.

“Git,” Sirius muttered, listening to the pair of footsteps fading away and the crackling fire behind him.  He heard Remus walking up behind him before he felt arms wrapping around his waist and holding him.  Remus was radiating heat; his own personal furnace - which had come in handy many a cold night in the drafty castle.  Though he was quiet, Sirius could tell that Remus wasn’t relaxed.  He leaned his head back on Remus’s chest and tilted his head to the side.  He felt the vibrations in Remus’s chest immediately and shivered when his boyfriend bent down his head to speak in his ear again.

“Are you trying to make up for earlier, Pads?”  Remus was teasing him somehow, and he probably expected an answer but between the drinks and the way he was being held, Sirius couldn’t quite put together what the right response was supposed to be.  The way Remus was slowly rubbing his thumb over Sirius’s stomach while moving the other to interlock their fingers and rub the leather cuff with his other hand wasn’t helping.

Sirius sighed, melting into his boyfriend’s arms a little more and Remus chuckled.  “Are you just happy to have me alone finally, or is that my present in your pocket?” Sirius asked as he wiggled a little bit, earning a full laugh from Remus as he pulled one of his hands away.  Before Sirius could begin pouting, it returned with a long, thin box.

Remus held the box and gently tapped Sirius with it when he didn’t take it right away.  Sirius lifted the box from the werewolf’s hand, which went back around his waist and stared.  The box was shaped almost like a wand box, except that it was shorter and maybe a bit thinner.  It wasn’t wrapped in paper, but instead, a single gold ribbon adorned the black box.

Slipping off the ribbon, Sirius lifted the lid to see two charms sitting in the middle of the box.  One was a golden wolf, resting with its legs tucked under itself, the head up as if it were listening for something.  Sirius ran his finger across the charm, fascinated with the detail of the fur coat, ears, and even the paws.  It looked like Moony.

As his finger brushed along the tail, he reached for the silver charm next to it.  It was a flat disc, hammered to look like the moon.

“They’re charmed,” Remus said softly.  “Turn it over.”

Sirius turned the moon to see a series of numbers on the back.  As he began to tilt his head back, Remus answered the question before it was asked.  “They’re coordinates.  Mine.”  Sirius turned in Remus’s arms, the last bit of tension in his shoulders gone, smiling, and a chuckle threatening to ruin the moment.  “The wolf is charmed too,” Remus continued but stopped when he realized Sirius was straightening up to get closer.  “Which I’ll explain later.”  He was barely able to finish his sentence before their lips were fused together.  Remus felt Sirius smiling, and just as quickly, Sirius was out of his arms, pulling the charms out of the box, tossing it aside.  Realizing the charms were on a long leather cord, he held the necklace out to Remus, spun around and pulled up his hair.  Chuckling, Remus secured the clasp once it was on.

“It’s not a choker?” Sirius teased, as he felt the charm rest on his breastbone.

Remus slowly pulled the necklace back, raising the charm to rest just against Sirius’s throat and said “Well, if you’d like it to be, we can always-” but he was cut short as his love turned around and he saw his wolf resting there against pale skin.

In two seconds Sirius was back in his arms, and he was snogging him within an inch of his life.  Moony wanted this.  Now.

It was only when Sirius began stumbling a bit that they broke apart and realized that they had been moving towards the doorway.

“Going somewhere?” Sirius chuckled.  “You still haven’t opened my gift yet.”

Remus groaned, ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head a bit.  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  He turned back and started walking back towards the fire.  “I should have had more of those brownies; I’ve just been so tense and when you liked the gift, and you look so good, I just-”

“Hey, hey…” Sirius said as he caught back up to Remus.  “I wasn’t complaining,” he smirked.

Remus resisted an eye roll but let out a huff and turned to look in the fire.

“Here, Happy Christmas Moony.”  When Remus turned back he saw Sirius with his hand outstretched holding a square box.  “Wrapped it myself,” Sirius added as Remus picked it up and turned it over in his hand.  Eyeing his boyfriend, he brought the package up to his ear and shook it.  

“Oh, c’mon Moony, just open it!”  Smirking, Remus tore the paper to reveal a white box underneath.  He opened it and saw a leather cuff, just like the one Sirius wore.  Except this was new.  It didn’t have any blemishes or frayed corners.  The leather was completely smooth and stiff, completely unworn.

Remus reached into the box, a bit surprised at the simplicity of the gift – not that it made him like it any less.  It was appropriate, in a way.  He had practically marked Sirius with that necklace and now he’d have something that was trademark Sirius Black.  He could feel Sirius waiting for a response, but his own thoughts were interrupted when he noticed as he pulled the cuff out, it began to change.

Slowly, a few dots began to appear on the leather.  One by one, the freckled the face of the cuff until a shape began to form that struck Remus in the back of his mind.  He should know that shape for some reason… The dots began to expand, turning into what looked like snowflakes, or… Stars.

Remus jerked his head up to look at an almost apprehensive Sirius.

Sirius.

Canis Major.  The dog star.

His star.

“It’s um, it’s got a modified Point Me charm on it, so it’s always pointing towards me,” Sirius said as he began taking a few steps to one side, then the other.  “See?”

Remus looked back down at the cuff and watched the constellation almost imperceptibly shift as Sirius moved.

“Great minds and all that, right?”  Sirius said, now much closer, one hand rubbing his neck.  Remus smiled down at him as he secured the cuff around his wrist, tossed the box and tucked some hair behind Sirius’s ear.

“Thank you, Pads.  I love it.”  He ran his hand along the stubble covered jaw and dropped down to touch the charms hanging from Sirius’s neck.  “Do you like it?  We can change the length if you want, or the-”

“I love it,” Sirius cut him off, placing his hand over Remus’s.  “It’s perfect the way it is.”

“Good.  It suits you.”


End file.
